The confidence of Chief Election Commissioner, Dr Nasim Zaidi, over the tamper-proof quality of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) is praiseworthy. He has been consistently reassuring the integrity and reliability of EVMs. Recently he had invited political parties to the Nirvachan Sadan, headquarters of the Commission, to try and manipulate the EVM.

Zaidi is a scientist by education and training. In fact, those close to him describe him as a specialist in bioche mistry with a keen passion for research and that the loss of the scientific community was a gain for the civil service. Hence, his conviction on the untamperability of EVMs arises out of sound scientific knowledge and belief. In the Indian scene, riven with political rivalry, it has been an instinctive and common reaction of an electoral defeat to blame it on the manipulation of EVMs. Even while the elegance, speed and reliability of the system that has enabled the smooth conduct of elections in the largest democracy in the world has received encomiums, doubting Thomases continue to doubt. There had been numerous instances in the past when teams of scientists successfully met the criticism. Nearer home, renowned Tamil writer Sujatha (S Rangarajan), closely involved in designing the EVM and the brilliant scientist-cum-academic Dr P V Indiresan, effectively responded to criticisms in several fora in India and abroad.

Sadly, unlike in more mature democracies, Indian parties and leaders lack the grace to accept defeat.

IE, the business magazine from south was launched in 1968 and pioneered business journalism in south. Through the 45 years IE has been focusing on well-presented and well-researched articles. When giants in the industry stumbled to keep pace with the digital revolution, IE stayed affixed embracing technology.